This article will answer many of the most frequently asked questions on this topic. I hope you find the information helpful. Unless we really love cooking or plan and prepare ahead with our meals, we can fall victim to the easy way out – fast food or junk food.
Here is a story; could it be you? The weekend is here, and you think you now have a couple of days to relax. Saturday morning – you make the coffee to start the day, and then you’re off to complete numerous outside the home tasks. You get back just before lunch and discover that you have to get the kids to their soccer and football practices. By the time you get organized, it is too late to prepare a healthy lunch for the bunch, so you pick up a hamburger on the way. Traffic is a nightmare on the way home for all of the Saturday activities. You realize it will be late by the time you get home it will be later in the evening, so you decide to order out for dinner. Sunday and time to prepare brunch, and you go downhill from there, so you pick up some chicken from KFC, Popeye’s, or any other named chicken fast food restaurant. If this sounds like your busy weekend with the kids, then you understand it is time-consuming to cook healthy meals or maintain a healthy diet while on the go all weekend.
So, what is a good diet? One which contains the nutrients your body needs in the correct amounts. That is the key to a healthy lifestyle. The main things your body needs from food are proteins (for growth and repair), carbohydrates (for energy), fats (gives a store of energy and the fatty layer protects and insulates your body from impacts and temperature loss), vitamins (for good health), minerals (for the correct functioning of your body systems) fiber (aids digestion and waste evacuation) and water (70% or so of the body is water). If you are seeking to lose weight quickly a low carb diet should be a consideration. And, prepared meals are best when you have a busy schedule, so plan ahead of time, so burgers want me an option!
Does the hamburger provide all the things your body needs? Does it supply the nutrients you need? The answer is YES and NO, but it does offer a limited amount of nutrients. The burger itself contains some meat, so there is protein, some minerals, and fat, the burger also contains fillers and those, plus the burger bun provides carbohydrate. The lettuce that comes with the burger meal provides fiber, water, vitamins, and minerals. The fries provide more fat and carbohydrate, and the main bulk of the water comes from the drink. To our surprise, the burger meals do provide all you need!
The problem is with the quantities of these nutrients. There is usually way too much fat and carbohydrate compared with the other nutrients. There is very little fiber. The vitamin and mineral proportions are low unless you have a shake with the meal, which will increase the proportion of dairy product-based minerals such as calcium. Now you need to make sure your next meal makes up for this unbalanced meal. For your evening meal, you should eat a low fat, high fiber meal, plenty of vegetables cooked lightly or eaten raw to not destroy the vitamins. If you must eat between meals, snack on fruit or vegetables, and the benefits will be that healthy snacking will boost your metabolism.
Another issue is the use of additives. For example, salt’s addition improves the flavor of food, so naturally, manufacturers put it in, so eating processed food increases your salt levels – increases blood pressure and leads to heart problems. A little salt is necessary; it provides your body with the mineral sodium needed in small quantities. Preservatives are another issue here. In small amounts, these are not supposed to be harmful. Do you eat processed food all of the time? Eating processed food all the time is something for you to think about because you are causing great harm to your body. After a weekend of eating poorly, you need to get to work on bringing your body back to center and optimal health. I recommend short detoxification of your body by consuming food, tea, and supplements to detox the body and put it back into a healing state. Antioxidant-rich, cholesterol-lowering, heart-healthy, cell-regenerating, and clean foods will help repair damage done by eating unhealthy foods over the busy weekend or day!
Antioxidants are so important. They help to prevent damage to the cells of your body, the damage that can lead to cells becoming cancerous. Teas are an excellent source of antioxidants. Black tea provides some but a lot of the beneficial constituents are lost during the fermentation process. Unprocessed, pure organic teas like Green Tea or Oolong (the latter is only partly fermented) are the best. So instead of coffee in the morning, try tea, because it is more beneficial. Tea also contains caffeine, but not as much as in coffee. You might have to drink more but think of the extra benefits to your health. Even Green tea is believed to inhibit the absorption of cholesterol. The high levels of animal fats in burgers inevitably mean more cholesterol, so there is another good reason for switching from coffee.
Simple changes to your diet can make your hectic lifestyle healthier. Enjoy the odd burger or other fast food; compensate for more nutritious foods for the rest of the day.
A system that works very well for me is making meals, cooking extra, and freezing them. When I come home tired, I get the individual meals out of the freezer, heat them up, and in minutes I’m eating a super meal. It’s even faster than fast food and tastes better too!
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